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Written by David Alizade, PARTNER; Darryl King, PARTNER on September 29th, 2022.
The Fair Trading Act 1986 (FTA) was amended last month to ban businesses from engaging in unconscionable conduct. When introducing the legislation at its first reading, Minister David Clark said that it was “necessary to deal with a very small minority of businesses that take advantage of the vulnerabilities and lack of bargaining power of consumers or other businesses”. This update explains the new law, considers some Australian cases where the equivalent law has been applied and suggests some steps businesses can take to avoid breaching the new law.
Written by David Alizade, PARTNER; Darryl King, PARTNER on March 9th, 2022.
New country of origin food labelling regulations are now in force (for fresh and thawed food) and come into effect for frozen food in May 2023. If you are a manufacturer, supplier or retailer of the prescribed fresh, frozen or thawed food, you need to comply with the new Consumer Information Standards (Origin of Food) Regulations 2021 (Regulations).
The purpose of the Regulations is to ensure that consumers can clearly understand where the different types of regulated foods originate from. In this update, we summarise the background to the Regulations, what foods are captured by the Regulations and what information needs to be disclosed.
Written by Darryl King, PARTNER; David Alizade, PARTNER on February 18th, 2020.
The Fair Trading Amendment Bill aims to provide more protection for small businesses and consumers against unfair commercial practices. It introduces a new prohibition against unconscionable conduct in trade, extends the unfair contract terms provisions to small trade contracts (currently they only apply to consumer contracts), and gives stronger consumer rights to get rid of ‘door knockers’.
Written by Darryl King PARTNER on September 14th, 2019.
Online reviews have become an increasingly useful way for consumers to do their due diligence on a product or service before they buy. However, businesses need to be careful in their handling of user reviews to avoid a possible breach of consumer protection legislation. Set out below is a summary of what the law says and some guidance on how businesses can take steps to avoid breaching it.
Written by Darryl King, PARTNER on December 10th, 2018.
The Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and the Minister for Small Business have today released a discussion paper about whether there is a need for increased protections for businesses and consumers against unfair commercial practices.
Written by David Alizade, PARTNER on August 31st, 2018.
Most businesses know (or should know!) about the Fair Trading Act 1986 (FTA) and the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 (CGA) – essentially they impose loads of obligations on people who are “in trade”. In case your memory is a bit hazy, we’ve summarised 10 key points you need to know about these consumer laws.
Written by Darryl King, PARTNER; David Alizade, PARTNER on September 27th, 2017.
The Commerce Commission has released its 2016/17 Consumer Issues Report. The report identifies key issues and emerging risks that have the potential to affect consumers in New Zealand.
Written by Darryl King, PARTNER on February 16th, 2017.
The Fair Trading Act 1986 (FTA) makes it an offence for businesses to engage in conduct that is, or is likely to be, misleading or deceptive. The FTA also includes more specific offences such as engaging in conduct that is liable to mislead the public as to the nature, characteristics, quantity, manufacturing process or suitability for purpose of goods and services. Summarised below are a number of recent FTA convictions for, what in hindsight appear to be, blatant misleading conduct.
Written by Darryl King, PARTNER on November 1st, 2016.
The Commerce Commission has released its 2016 Consumer Issues Report. The report identifies key issues and emerging risks that have the potential to affect consumers in New Zealand, and upcoming areas of focus for the Commerce Commission.
Written by Darryl King, PARTNER on September 21st, 2016.
Last month the Commerce Commission released a report on unfair contract terms in the energy retail sector. The full report contains the second Commerce Commission industry review of unfair contract term (UCT) provisions and follows the telecommunications review released earlier this year. The UCT provisions were introduced in March 2015 as an amendment to the Fair Trading Act and have a wide reach as they apply to every standard form contract between a business and a New Zealand consumer.
Written by Darryl King, PARTNER on August 23rd, 2016.
Safeguarding privacy and cyber security are key concerns for businesses and consumers in 2016. This article looks at the latest public research and what this means for you.
Written by Darryl King, PARTNER on May 2nd, 2016.
In March 2015 new rules came into force prohibiting the use of “unfair” terms in standard form consumer contracts. In February 2016 the Commerce Commission released a report on unfair contract terms (
UCT) in the telecommunications sector. The full report, available
here, contains the first industry review by the Commerce Commission.
Written by Darryl King, PARTNER on March 14th, 2016.
Last month the Commerce Commission released a report on unfair contract terms in the telecommunications sector. The full report contains the first Commerce Commission industry review of unfair contract term (UCT) provisions. The UCT provisions were introduced in March 2015 as an amendment to the Fair Trading Act and have a wide reach as they apply to every standard form contract between a business and a New Zealand consumer.
Written by Darryl King, PARTNER on October 6th, 2015.
The Commerce Commission has released its second Consumer Issues Report. The report identifies key issues and emerging risks that have the potential to affect consumers in New Zealand, and upcoming areas of focus for the Commerce Commission. The report is based on industry information and recent consumer complaints received by the Commission.
Written by Darryl King, PARTNER on November 3rd, 2014.
Changes to the Fair Trading Act that introduce unfair contract terms provisions will be coming into force on 17 March 2015. If you use standard form consumer contracts, these will apply to you.
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